South Africa's ruling ANC kickstarts its election campaign Saturday for polls on May 29, facing its worst result ever amid high unemployment, a sluggish economy and a challenge from its former leader.

President Cyril Ramaphosa and his embittered predecessor, Jacob Zuma, are expected to address rival events in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province, a key electoral battleground.

In power since the advent of democracy in 1994, Ramaphosa's African National Congress has suffered a sharp decline in support, beset by allegations of corruption and mismanagement.

It is facing an uphill battle to keep its parliamentary majority, with polls showing it particularly vulnerable in KwaZulu-Natal -- Zuma's home province.

Long resentful about the way he was forced out of office, the former president has joined an opposition group seeking to cut into the ANC's share of the vote.

"Zuma represents the single biggest threat to the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal," said Zakhele Ndlovu, a politics lecturer at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban.

The feud between the two leaders will play out in the open on Saturday, when the........

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